Hi everyone, i am very close to booking a holiday to Antigua this week for my girlfriend and i. We are in our early 20s and were wondering what the nightlife is like on the island. We have spoke to one couple who thought it was very dull, they said that there was only the hotel entertainment available, which was quite poor to say the least. We are very very keen to book this trip however we dont want to have a boring holiday.

There is not much nightlife in Antigua. There are places like Shirley Heights on a Sunday night thatâ€™s well worth it and there are various bars around that have live music.

Of course the hotels have their own entertainment, which can be quite good (depends on your tastes and what style of entertainment they have). Donâ€™t let that put you off though as the island is beautiful and the people are friendly and helpful (you can always ask some locals for suggestions).

Visitors to Antigua should exercise more than the usual caution when venturing into the casinos. Some casinos, including the Grand Princess in Jolly Harbour are host to a game known as Rainbow Jackpot. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME!

Unsuspecting punters are enticed with the offer of a free turn to get them started. The game is played with a set of numbered ping pong balls. The object is to accumulate 100 points by scooping out balls and adding the numbers. A substantial cash prize is used as bait if you can get to 100 points.

Starting at $10, each successive turn requires you to double your bet. The game operator will actively encourage you to continue playing and may say that you are bound to win. When you run out of cash he will offer to take your credit card. Invariably the points scored become smaller and smaller as you fall just short of the 100 points required.

In a short time the player's credit card is maxed out. Since you cannot continue the operator will sadly inform you that have lost. Some persons have been taken for many thousands of dollars in a very short time.

The usual jibes about gambling being for suckers will doubtless be heard in response to this warning. This is not a casino game in the generally accepted sense.

Several victims have posted their experiences on the web. Just Google on "antigua rainbow jackpot" to get their details.

You can expect to enjoy the vacation of a lifetime in Antigua just as long you steer well clear of this casino minefield. By all means do others a big favour by sharing this warning with your travel agent and fellow travelers.

You should also know that the Grand Bay casino near Sandals on Dickenson Bay is owned and operated by the same people as the Grand Princess.

You might be interested to know that there are also quite a number of casinos in the Dominican Republic which host essentially the same setup. The web site http://www.superkenoscam.com has extensively documented the details of this fraud. A complete overview of the game and how it is played is given here -

Comments by N & S on Saturday, December 01, 2007 at 14:32
Just returned from Barcelo Premium (Breezes) Punta Cana AI resort. We decided to go to the Casino when the nightly show & band was rained out. Normally my wife and I donâ€™t gamble, but we got Black Jack coupons at the resort to prompt us to go and try it out. When we arrived, they gave us $10 to try out a complimentary game of â€śBonus Bingoâ€ť. The dealer â€śPeteâ€ť from Boston was great...we were so glad to talk to an American. The game description was vague in the beginning but seemed straight forward when we started to win. Got to 97 points and were really encouraged, especially by Pete our Dealer. We thought we had the $800 jackpot and this would be the night that turned a so-so vacation into a memorable one. Well, we kept drawing balls and they were Doubling the Jackpot and the Bets and started to get worried, but again encouraged that we were soooo close and weâ€™d bail out. Anyway, exactly like everyone else describes we were worried to lose $2,000 in bets that it started to exponentially double triple & so on until we were spending over $30,000 just to try to get the last 3 points that we needed to turn this around. Another young couple at the resort lost over $15,000 that night!! It was a NIGHTMARE...we were scared about complaining, about accusing a scam, about anything.
Before we read on this site the day AFTER returning, we were accepting that we got greedy and gambled on the win but how can you gamble on something that you canâ€™t ever win!! If anyone has information or support, please contact us. Thanks!
United States